Insider Selling: Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) CFO Sells 18,332 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Susan Li, CFO of Meta Platforms, sold 18,332 shares of stock at an average price of $764.71, totaling approximately $14 million, reducing her ownership by 17.89% to 84,141 shares.
• Meta's stock is currently down 2.1%, trading at $751.48, with a market cap of $1.89 trillion and a P/E ratio of 27.21.
• The company reported a 21.6% year-over-year revenue increase with quarterly earnings per share of $7.14, exceeding analysts' estimates of $5.75.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) CFO Susan Li sold 18,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.71, for a total value of $14,018,663.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 84,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $64,343,464.11. The trade was a 17.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:META traded down $15.89 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $751.48. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,216,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,316,512. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $726.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $656.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Meta Platforms

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 18,318 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the period. MRP Capital Investments LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 5,090 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,757,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $75,000. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,767 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $8,685,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 39.1% during the 2nd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 2,785 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,056,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citizens Jmp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Benchmark raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.

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